AI helps robot dogs navigate the real world
Four-legged robot dogs learned to perform new tricks by practising in a virtual platform that mimics real-world obstacles – a possible shortcut for training robots faster and more accurately ⌘ Read more
Why does our universe have something instead of nothing?
In order to figure out how something came from nothing, we first need to explore the different types of nothing ⌘ Read more
We are a long way from pregnancy being safe on Mars
Dangerous radiation reaches Mars at levels we aren’t exposed to on Earth, which makes the Red Planet a particularly dangerous place to be during pregnancy ⌘ Read more
Why hairy animals shake themselves dry
The brain pathway that causes hairy mammals like mice and dogs to shake themselves dry appears to have more to do with pressure than temperature ⌘ Read more
Bird flu antibodies found in dairy workers in Michigan and Colorado
Blood tests have shown that about 7 per cent of workers on dairy farms that had H5N1 outbreaks had antibodies against the disease ⌘ Read more
Marmots could have the solution to a long-running debate in evolution
When it comes to the survival of animals living in the wild, the characteristics of the group can matter as much as the traits of the individual, according to a study in marmots ⌘ Read more
The real reason VAR infuriates football fans and how to fix it
The controversies surrounding football’s video assistant referee (VAR) system highlight our troubled relationship with uncertainty – and point to potential solutions ⌘ Read more
Carbon emissions from private jets have exploded in recent years
The climate impact of flights taken by the super-rich rose sharply from 2019 to 2023, fuelling calls for a carbon tax on private aviation ⌘ Read more
Chinese rover finds further evidence for an ancient ocean on Mars
Data collected by the Zhurong rover and orbiting satellites suggests the existence of an ancient shoreline in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars ⌘ Read more
DNA analysis rewrites the stories of people buried in Pompeii
Genetic analysis of five individuals preserved as plaster casts in the ruins of Pompeii contradicts established beliefs about the people and their relationships ⌘ Read more
Ancient Egyptians shaped sheep’s horns – and we don’t know why
The earliest evidence of livestock with modified horns has been discovered in ancient Egypt – sheep skulls with horns that point in unnatural directions suggest humans forced them to grow that way ⌘ Read more
Knots made in a weird quantum fluid can last forever
Shapes created by vortices in water often fall apart, but an odd quantum fluid made from ultracold atoms could support vortex knots that never lose their knottiness ⌘ Read more
What preparing for an asteroid strike teaches us about climate change
Averting an asteroid strike will need many of the same skills we must hone to tackle climate change and future pandemics ⌘ Read more
More people are living with pain today than before covid emerged
Chronic pain has increased among adults in the US since 2019, which could be due to a rise in sedentary lifestyles or reduced access to healthcare amid covid-19 restrictions ⌘ Read more
If an asteroid were heading towards Earth, could you avert disaster?
In this choose-your-own-adventure game, it’s up to you to protect the planet. From nuclear strikes to giant spikes, find out what would give us the best chance of survival ⌘ Read more
2024 is set to be the first year that breaches the 1.5°C warming limit
This year’s average global temperature is almost certain to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial times – a milestone that should spur urgent action, say climate scientists ⌘ Read more
Vampire bats run on a treadmill to reveal their strange metabolism
Experiments where vampire bats were made to run on a treadmill have revealed how they extract energy from protein in their latest blood meal ⌘ Read more
Distant dwarf planet Makemake might have a surprising ice volcano
A small world in the outer solar system appears to have volcanic activity possibly spurred by liquid water ⌘ Read more
Dazzling images illuminate research on cardiovascular disease
The British Heart Foundation’s Reflections of Research competition showcases beautiful images captured by researchers studying heart and circulatory disease ⌘ Read more
Natural fibres in wet wipes may actually be worse for soil and animals
Fibres in wet wipes and clothes often make their way into soil - and natural versions could be more damaging than synthetic ones ⌘ Read more
Ancient Mesopotamian clay seals offer clues to the origin of writing
Before Mesopotamian people invented writing, they used cylinder seals to press patterns into wet clay – and some of the symbols used were carried over into proto-writing ⌘ Read more
Spraying rice with sunscreen particles during heat waves boosts growth
Zinc nanoparticles, a common sunscreen ingredient, can make plants more resilient to climate change – in a surprising way ⌘ Read more
Heat can flow backwards in a gas so thin its particles never touch
A surprising reversal of our usual understanding of the second law of thermodynamics shows that it may be possible for heat to move in the “wrong” direction, flowing from a cold area to a warm one ⌘ Read more
The COP16 biodiversity summit was a big flop for protecting nature
Although the COP16 summit in Colombia ended with some important agreements, countries still aren’t moving fast enough to stem biodiversity loss ⌘ Read more
The complete guide to cooking oils and how they affect your health
From seed oils to olive oil, we now have an overwhelming choice of what to cook with. Here’s how they all stack up, according to the scientific evidence ⌘ Read more
COP29: Clashes over cash are set to dominate the climate conference
The focus is on finance at the UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, this month, but countries are a long way from any kind of consensus ⌘ Read more
Bird flu was found in a US pig – does that raise the risk for humans?
A bird flu virus that has been circulating in dairy cattle for months has now been found in a pig in the US for the first time, raising the risk of the virus evolving to become more dangerous to people ⌘ Read more
We’ve seen particles that are massless only when moving one direction
Inside a hunk of a material called a semimetal, scientists have uncovered signatures of bizarre particles that sometimes move like they have no mass, but at other times move just like a very massive particle ⌘ Read more
Viruses may help store vast amounts of carbon in soil
Soil is full of an uncountable number of viruses, and scientists are only beginning to understand just how substantial their role in the carbon cycle may be ⌘ Read more
There may be a cosmic speed limit on how fast anything can grow
Alan Turing’s theories about computation seem to have a startling consequence, placing hard limits on how fast or slow any physical process in the universe can grow ⌘ Read more
World’s largest tree is also among the oldest living organisms
DNA analysis suggests Pando, a quaking aspen in Utah with thousands of stems connected by their roots, is between 16,000 and 81,000 years old ⌘ Read more
One in 20 new Wikipedia pages seem to be written with the help of AI
Just under 5 per cent of the Wikipedia pages in English that have been published since ChatGPT’s release seem to include AI-written content ⌘ Read more
Cloud-inspired material can bend light around corners
Light can be directed and steered around bends using a method similar to the way clouds scatter photons, which could lead to advances in medical imaging, cooling systems and even nuclear reactors ⌘ Read more
The best new science fiction books of November 2024
From Harlan Ellison to Haruki Murakami, via an intergalactic cooking competition, this month has plenty of science fictional treats on offer ⌘ Read more
War-era sugar rationing boosted health of UK people conceived in 1940s
People conceived during the UK’s 1940s and 50s sugar rationing have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure than those conceived after rationing ended ⌘ Read more
Lakes are losing winter ice cover at an astonishing rate
Fewer lakes are freezing over each winter compared with past years, posing environmental and economic consequences around the world ⌘ Read more
A bizarre skeleton from a Roman grave has bones from seven people
Radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis have revealed that a complete skeleton found in a 2nd-century cemetery is made up of bones from many people spanning thousands of years – but we don’t know who assembled it or why ⌘ Read more
Spies can eavesdrop on phone calls by sensing vibrations with radar
An off-the-shelf millimetre wave sensor can pick out the tiny vibrations made by a smartphone’s speaker, enabling an AI model to transcribe the conversation, even at a distance in a noisy room ⌘ Read more
Chimpanzees will never randomly type the complete works of Shakespeare
The Infinite Monkey Theorem states that illiterate primates could write great literature with enough time, but the amount of time needed is much longer than the lifespan of the universe ⌘ Read more
Simple fix could make the census more accurate but just as private
The US Census Bureau processes data before publishing it in order to keep personal information private – but a new approach could maintain the same privacy while improving accuracy ⌘ Read more
Michelangelo’s ‘The Flood’ seems to depict a woman with breast cancer
The Renaissance artist Michelangelo had carried out human dissections, which may have led him to include women with breast cancer in some of his pieces ⌘ Read more
Is personalised nutrition better than one-size-fits-all diet advice?
Our metabolism’s response to food is highly idiosyncratic and there are hints that tailoring our diet to these personal differences can deliver health benefits ⌘ Read more
AI can use tourist photos to help track Antarctica’s penguins
Scientists used AI to transform tourist photos into a 3D digital map of Antarctic penguin colonies – even as researchers debate whether to harness or discourage tourism in this remote region ⌘ Read more
How to cut through the latest nutritional fads
From the benefits of fermented foods to diets that promise a better hormone balance, there is a confusing array of dietary advice out there ⌘ Read more
The surprisingly simple supernutrient with far-reaching health impacts
Most ingredients touted as the key to better health fail to live up to the hype but fibre bucks this trend, with benefits for the whole body, not just the gut ⌘ Read more
Oldest tadpole fossil known to science dates back 161 million years
A fossil of a tadpole from Argentina is 161 million years old - and isn’t that different from some modern species ⌘ Read more
Cancer atlas reveals how tumours evolve inside the body
A massive undertaking to map cancer tumours is providing new insights into how the disease forms, evolves and develops resistance to treatments ⌘ Read more
Are fermented foods like kimchi really that good for your gut?
The health benefits of fermented food and drink have long been touted, but firm evidence in favour of kombucha, sauerkraut and kefir is surprisingly elusive ⌘ Read more
Can we really balance our hormones by eating certain foods?
Diets that claim to control excess oestrogen or stress hormones are all the rage on Instagram and TikTok. They could be good for us, just not for the reasons claimed ⌘ Read more
The Amazon is teetering on the edge of a climate tipping point
In some recent years, the Amazon biome released more carbon than it absorbed, and further degradation could make it a permanent shift ⌘ Read more